Mountain Day: MHC Students Head for the Hills

Students
at the summit of Mount Holyoke
(photo by Fred LeBlanc)

On September
28, with a cloudless blue sky overhead and a hint of chill in
the air,
Mount Holyoke students, together with a
handful of faculty and staff, made the trek up the mountain for
which the College was named back in 1837. President
Joanne V. Creighton and Dean of Students Lee Bowie met the enthusiastic
climbers at the Summit House. Dining services was on hand with
ice cream for the crowd. Students fanned out across the mountaintop
park, enjoying the spectacular views and the College’s
oldest tradition.

Creighton,
dressed appropriately for the occasion in jeans and a turtleneck
sweater, gladly posed
with students
who clamored to
have their photograph snapped with the president. Asked who chose
the day this year, Creighton replied, "I called it. I’ll
take credit for this one!"

Three seniors,
Irina Lisker, Tania Ahmed, and Lindsay Chura, made the trip this
year
for the first
time. "I’m glad I
came. I can’t imagine graduating and not being a part of
this tradition," said Lisker. Others, including Wendy Chen ’07,
have celebrated Mountain Day every year they’ve been at the
College.

Perhaps the most ambitious students to make the climb were three
members of the College cycling team, Susan Shiland '08, Metzi
Anderson '08, and Emily Wheeler '08, who rode their
bikes up the mountain. The three were only slightly winded when
they reached the top. The cycling team, they explained, uses the
mountain for practice. "It’s a great training hill,"
Anderson said. "It’s so steep." She added, "And
now, for some ice cream."